mention as briefly as may be the Answers that have been usually given to these Objections And 1. Whereas 't is said that of some of the Books of the New Testament the Authors Names are not certainly known as namely of the Epistle to the Hebrews and that of others the Authors have been doubted particularly of the second and third Epiâ—tles of St. John To this it hath been answered 1. That the Credit and Authority of a Book depends many times much more upon the good Assurance that we have of the time when it was written and of the Character of the Person that wrote it than upon the certain Knowledge of his Name It is therefore a Matter of no great Conseâ—uence whether the Epistle to the Hebrews was writâ—en by St. Paul himself as is commonly and upon â—ery probable Grounds believed Or as some have â—onjectured by St. Luke his constant Companion Or as others by St. Clemens his Fellow-labourer â—hose Name was in the Book of Life Phil. 4.3 Or as others â—y St. Barnabas his Assistant in Preaching the Goâ—pel Acts 14.14 and who is dignified by St. Luke with the Tiâ—e of an Apostle And so neither is it very maâ—erial whether the Epistles called the second and third Epistles of St. John and commonly believed to be written by the same Person that wrote the first were indeed written by St. John the Apostle and Evangelist or as some have thought by another â—ohn who was made Bishop of the Jewish Christians â—t Ephesus by him For it is sufficient that the Writers of these Books which soever they were of the Persons before-mentioned were of good Ability and Integrity and well instructed in that Doctrine and Religion which they wrote about And of this besides the Testimony of the Ancients there is good Evidence enough in the Writings themselves 2. In Answer to this and to all other Objections of this sort against these or any other Books or Chapters or Paragraphs of the New Testament it hath been farther truly said that there is nothing singular in these Books that there is no Doctrine of Christianity taught in any Part of the New Testament of the Author or Authority of which there hath ever been any Doubt in the Church which is not taught in some other undoubted and uncontroverted Part of the same Book So that if it were granted that those Parts of the New Testament of which there has been formerly any Doubt were still of uncertain Authority our Christianity would suffer no real Loss thereby Only giving up these controverted Places we should sometimes want a good Help to enable us to understand readily those other uncontroverted Places of the New Testament wherein the same Doctrines are but perhaps more briefly or obscurely delivered 2. Whereas 't is said that some Parts of the New Testament have been rejected in ancient Times This is granted But then it hath been shewn that considering by whom they have been rejected and under what Notion and for what Reasons they were rejected this Objection is of no force to invalidate the Authority even of those Parts of the New Testament which have been so rejected and much less of the rest of the Book which has been allowed by all Thus some Portions of the New Testament have been rejected by Hereticks because they contradicted their private and singular Notions Some by Judaizing Christians as the Two first Chapters of St. Matthew because they were not found in that Hebrew Copy of that Gospel which they used and all the Epistles of St. Paul were likewise rejected by the same Persons but not as not written by St. Paul but only because they were written by him whom they looked upon as an Enemy to their Nation because he levelled them with other Nations and as too averse to that Religion which had been introduced by Moses which they continued so wedded to even after their embracing Christianity that they could not but suspect him to be a false Apostle who had so plainly taught the Abrogation thereof And for the like Reasons some other Parts of the New Testament have been likewise rejected by some few Men that is not because they wanted the same Attestation which the other Parts of it had or because it appeared by credible History that they were Spurious but only because they contradicted too plainly some Notions which their former Prejudices or Education had made them fond of So that this Argument against the Authority of the New Testament taken from the Rejection of some Parts of it by some particular Men or Sects is manifestly of no Strength unless there was some good Reason for their Rejecting them And that there was good Reason for it has not yet been shewn but the contrary has been shewn very plainly by the ancient Writers of the Church in several Books written by them in Confutation of those Sects and Heresies which are still extant And 3. Whereas it is further said that some Books which are now receiv'd as Parts of the New Testament were not universally receiv'd in the most early Times when their Authority if they were authentick might have been asserted upon more certain Grounds than it can be now viz. the Epistle to the Hebrews the Epistle of St. James the 2d of St. Peter the 2d and 3d. of St. John the Epistle of St. Jude and the Book of the Revelation This is likewise granted But in Answer to it it is said 1. That there is good Evidence from Antiquity that these controverted Books were receiv'd in the most early Times by those who had the best Opportunity of satisfying themselves of the Authors and Authority thereof viz. by those to whom they were sent and in general by the whole Greek Church 2. That it is no Wonder that these Books being written either to Christians dispersed and consequently only published by giving out Copies thereof to some to be communicated as there was Opportunity to others or else to private Persons living perhaps at great Distance from the Places from which they were sent were not so easie to be attested and upon that Account were not at first so generally receiv'd as the others were which were either written to particular Churches to which the Authors Hands and the Messengers that brought them were well known or which were first published and receiv'd in the same Places where they were written And 3. That even those Churches which did for some time doubt of the Authority of these Books were persuaded at last to receive them as the Authentick Writings of the Apostles or other Inspired Men. If therefore it be supposed that while they doubted of these Books they had Reason for their Doubt that is that they did it because they were not as yet fully satisfied that they were Apostolical Writings which the Objectors I believe will readily enough grant it may be very reasonably presumed that they had afterwards greater Reason to lay aside their Doubt and that when they did receive
in the Holy Scripture it must be either in the Matter of it or in the Proof of it And if it be in the Matter of it it must be either that it does not give us sufficient Directions what to do or that it does not propose sufficient Motives to persuade Men to do what it requires And therefore in speaking to this Head I shall shew 1. That the Holy Scripture gives us sufficient Directions what to do 2. That the Motives which the Scripture proposes are sufficient to persuade us to do what it requires And 3. That we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines which are taught by it 1. I shall shew that the Holy Scripture gives us sufficient Directions what to do And of this there can be little Doubt among those that believe the divine Inspiration and Authority of the Holy Scripture because to them its own Testimony of its own sufficiency is a Proof thereof beyond all Exception For if as the Apostle says 2. Tim. 3.16 it be profitable for Doctrine and for Reproof and for Correction and for Instruction in Rigteousness it is plainly profitable for all the Purposes for which we can desire a divine Revelation And if as he says in the next Verse it was given to make perfect the Man of God that is the Man whose Business it is to teach and instruct others and throughly to furnish him unto all good Works it cannot be deficient in delivering all such Rules and Directions as are necessary to be given by a Pastor to the People committed to his Care And if as the same Apostle had said at the 15th Verse of that Chapter it be able to make us wise unto Salvation we have no Reason to desire to be wiser than this excellent Book can make us And if all this could truly be said by the Apostle before the Canon of the New Testament was compleated if it could be said by him of those Holy Scriptures which Timothy had known from a Child that is of the Books of the Old Testament only much more may it be now said of the Books of both Testaments together But to speak at large of this Point at present would be too great a Digression from the Design of these Lectures which were intended only against Infidels not against any Sect of Christians and such they pretend to be such because they hold the Foundation Christ Jesus they may in Charity be allow'd to be who do chiefly differ from us in this Article and deny the sufficiency of Scripture only because they are resolved to maintain some gainful Doctrines and Practices of their own Church which they are sensible have no Warrant from Scripture and so can be maintained no other Way but by affirming that they have been delivered down to them by Tradition and that unwritten Tradition is a necessary Supplement to the written Word and of equal Authority with it For between us and Infidels who reject the Scripture the Sufficiency of the Scripture as a Rule of Faith and Manners is hardly Matter of Controversie for these do not reject the Scripture because it teaches too little but rather because it teaches too much because it teaches Doctrines above their Reason and commands such Duties as they do not like to practise and if it taught less than it does they would be more ready to own its divine Authority But nevertheless even these Men that they may leave no Stone unturned will be sometimes discoursing upon this Point and altho' those Books of Holy Scripture which are now extant and which are now generally receiv'd do teach much more than they themselves are willing to believe and practise yet that they may as much as they can unsettle the Belief of others do not stick to argue againast the Christian Religion from this Topick and to affirm that the Books of Holy Scripture which are now receiv'd do not contain the whole Will of God For there were say they in former times several other Gospels and Epistles and other Tracts designed to instruct Men in the Christian Religion which were written by the Apostles or other inspired Men and which were consequently of the same Authority in themselves with those which are now receiv'd into the Canon of which nevertheless we have nothing now left but the Names and Titles or some imperfect and uncertain Fragments so that it may well be doubted whether those few Books which are now remaining are sufficient to instruct us in all necessary Points of Knowledge and Practice And of this Matter of Fact there is they say some Evidence even from the Scripture its self For St. Luke in the Beginning of his Gospel takes Notice that many before him had taken in Hand to set forth a Declaration of those things which were surely believed among Christians that is had written and published Narratives of the Life Actions Miracles Preaching Death and Resurrection of our Saviour But there are no Histories of this Kind no Gospels now extant that were written before St. Luke's except only St. Matthew's and St. Mark 's and if there had been no more extant at that time it would have been very improper they say for the Evangelist to have said that many had written upon this Subject when he spake only of those two And that there was Matter enough for several such Narratives so that tho' they were very different Gospels they might nevertheless be all true we are told by St. John who wrote his Gospel the last of the Four Evangelists Joh. 20.30 Many other Signs truly did Jesus in the Presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book and again Ch. 21. Vers 25. There are also many other things which Jesus did the which if they should be written every one I suppose that even the World its self could not contain the Books that should be written Now if it be true that there were several other Books formerly extant but which are now lost that were written by the Apostles and other inspired Men and consequently by divine Inspiration either these were needless when written and it is unreasonable to suppose that any Book written by divine Inspiration was needless or else the Loss of these Books is a Loss to Religion and we cannot be well assured that those which we have now remaining do sufficiently instruct us in all Points of Christian Faith and Practice But admit the Truth of this Matter of Fact viz. that more Books were written by the Apostles or inspired Men than are now extant which I will not now dispute because I think it needless because I think it may be granted without any Prejudice to the Christian Cause altho' there be none or at most but very slender Evidence of it nay admit more than is upon any good Grounds alledged viz. not only that several but that every one of the Apostles and immediate Disciples of
he thought he himself had written enough in his Gospel to persuade Men to believe in Christ and to direct them in the Way to eternal Life There being therefore in those Books of the New Testament which we now have several Abridgments of the whole Christian Doctrine it cannot with any Reason be pretended that all these Books together are not sufficient fully to instruct us therein Besides The Gospel of Christ that was preached suppose by St. Thomas in India or by St. Simon in Africa or by any other of the Apostles in Countries remote from Judea or without the Bounds of the Roman Empire was undoubtedly the very same Gospel that was preached by St. Peter and St. Paul or those other of the Apostles whose Books are now extant and received by the Catholick Church for they were all taught by the same Master Christ and were all enlightned by the same Holy Ghost so that if any of them did as 't is reported they did write any Gospels for the present Use of those particular Churches which they had planted tho' they might be somewhat different from any of the four Gospels which we now have in the Expression or perhaps in the Relation of some particular Passages of our Saviour's Life which our Evangelists have omitted just as the four Gospels which we now have do differ from one another yet for Substance they must needs have been the same with these and with one another if indeed they were all true Relations of the Matters of which the Authors thereof had been Witnesses so that if we had them all now they could all together teach us no other Doctrines than are taught in the Books of the New Testament Nevertheless I do not deny but that if we had more Books of this Kind than we have that if we had all the Books that were written by the Apostles or their immediate Successors who had been taught by them they might be of very good Use to us to help us to understand more readily and easily those Books which we have as now we receive from some Portions of Holy Scripture great Light to help us to understand and to put a right Interpretation upon others But perhaps it was for this very Reason that the Providence of God did order no more to be written than were written or has suffered those to be lost that are supposed to be lost that it might cost us some Pains and Study to understand our Religion that so our Knowledge as well as our Practice being in some Measure the Fruit of our own Industry might be a proper Subject of Reward In short That there were more Books in the first Age of Christianity written by Apostles or other inspired Men than are now extant or than if extant can be well proved to be of their Writing is a Point which I believe cannot be now upon any certain Evidence either affirmed or denied But if it be granted I say however there is no Reason to inferr from thence that those which we now have are not sufficient For if there be a God and a Providence and if there be any Truth in the Scripture Declarations of the Love of God to Mankind and that he would have all Men to be saved and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth most certainly the necessary Means of Mens Salvation is a proper Subject of the divine Care And if so it can't be thought but that the same good Providence which as is now supposed took Care for the writing of more Books when more might be necessary has likewise taken Care for the Preservation of so many of these Books as are now sufficient Or if the Men we are now arguing with will not grant that there is such a particular Providence of God yet if they will but allow that God is just that he is not a hard Master expecting to reap where he has not sown I think they must allow that all things necessary to our Salvation not knowable by Reason are taught in the Books of Holy Scripture which we now have because there are no other Books extant which we have reason to receive and accept as divine Revelation Or if they deny this it will lie upon them to produce those other Books which we ought to receive besides these and to give good Evidence to the World of their divine Authority Which when they have done or if they shall but only shew that there is as good Reason to receive them as these We must own our selves to blame if we shall not then take them also into the Canon of Scripture But till that shall be done what hath been already said is enough to shew that the Holy Scripture is a compleat Rule both of Faith and Manners Especially considering as was noted before that when-ever the Insufficiency of Scripture in this Respect is urged by those who do not believe the Scripture which are the Persons I have now to deal with it can be only for Cavilling sake the true Reason of their Backwardness to receive it as a divine Revelation being not because it teaches not enough but because it teaches more than they are willing to believe and commands more than they are disposed to practise For I cannot imagine that these Men do truly desire more Duty than is laid upon them in the Books of Scripture now received by the Christian Church But what they may most reasonably be thought to desire is either some better Encouragement to undertake that difficult Task which the Scripture lays upon them or some better Evidence that the Scripture is a divine Revelation I proceed now therefore to the second thing propounded which was 2. To shew that the Motives which the Scripture proposes are sufficient to persuade Men to do what it requires Now Hopes and Fears are the great Springs of Action and the greater the Good is we hope for or the Evil we fear the stronglier do they move and incline us to Action And therefore how difficult soever the Undertaking be so it be but possible if the Motives are proportioned to the Difficulty they must be granted to be sufficient Inducements to undertake it But that the Task or Business required of us is possible to be done needs not to be proved now because it must be granted by those who say they believe they should be persuaded to do what is required if they had better Encouragement for no Arguments or Motives whatsoever can reasonably persuade a Man to undertake a thing that he believes impossible Supposing it therefore possible I say that whatsoever Difficulty there really is or we may apprehend there is in a Christian Life if any Motives that could possibly be proposed to us can be thought sufficient to induce us to undertake it most evidently those Motives which the Gospel proposes are so because better or greater cannot be so much as conceived or imagined seeing both the good things which it promises to persuade us to Virtue and
and we do not take Care to avoid it our Lot will be extremely miserable and we shall be tormented Day and Night for ever and ever in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone And when we consider withal the very little Trouble in Comparison that it will cost us to attain that and to avoid this that 't is but the Labour of a few Years and that the most we can suffer by it is the Loss of a little Sensual Pleasure for which after this Life is over we should be never the better or the enduring of some little Pain or Hardship which will be soon over and for which if no Good should ever come of it after this Life we shall however be then never the worse Considering I say thus the infinitely vast and wide Difference that there is between being eternally happy and eternally miserable 't is enough that it is possible 't is more than enough that 't is probable that there will be such a state and if we neglect to make Provision for it because we are not absolutely certain that it will be it is plain that we do not act so prudently in this as we do in other Cases that are of infinitely less Moment and Concern to us and that as our Saviour says The Children of tâ—â— World are in their Generation wiser than the Children of Light Now this is the most that the professed Atheists or Infidels can pretend They 'll say perhaps that for their own parts they do not believe the Being of a God or a Judgment or a Life to come and that they do not see any good Reason to believe these things forasmuch as all the Proofs that are brought for them do in their Judgment fall short of Demonstration and they are resolved not to believe them till such Proof thereof shall be offered as they can make no Exception against not till they shall see with their own Eyes that there is a Heaven and a Hell or till they shall have a Messenger sent to them from thence on purpose to assure them thereof And be it so as they say that there is not an absolute Certainty of the Truth of these things that we have not yet such a sure Proof of them as ocular or mathematical Demonstration would be yet this is the most they can say they themselves cannot pretend that there is any Demonstration on the other side They are not sure they say that there will be another Life or that it will be everlasting Well but are they sure that there will not be such a Life is it absurd or impossible that there should be such a Life this I 'm sure they can't say and all that they have yet dared to say is only that those Proofs thereof that we rely upon are not in their Opinion sufficient But suppose them as insufficient as they can think them yet still if they are not sufficient to prove the Certainty they may be sufficient to prove the Probability of what they are brought to prove or if not so yet still a future Life if it be not certain nay if it be not probable however may be possible And if it be only possible that we may live for ever and that we may be eternally happy or eternally miserable this Possibility alone considering what an infinite Difference there is between these two States ought in reason to put us upon taking the best Care we can that if there be an eternal Life we may be eternally happy in it But after all our Proof of this and other great Truths of our Religion is not so very weak and slender as these Men would represent it It is indeed as good as the Nature of the thing will bear and he 's an unreasonable Man that requires a better Proof of any thing than it is capable of This therefore is what I should now in the next Place proceed to do viz. 3. To shew that there is sufficient Reason to give Credit to the Scripture wherein these Truths are plainly taught But this being too large a Subject to be handled now I have already said I would deferr it to the next Opportunity FINIS THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Proof of it PART I. A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul March the 4 th 1699 700. BEING The Third for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BlACKALL Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead HAving in my first Discourse on these Words endeavoured to shew in general that a Standing Revelation of God's Will may be so well contrived and so well attested as to be sufficient to persuade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate I came the last time to consider whether that Standing Revelation which we have in the Holy Scripture be such a Revelation Or whether there be not some particular Defects in it which render it not so sufficient for this Purpose as 't is possible a Standing Revelation might be And if there be any such Defect in the Holy Scripture it must be as I said either in the Matter of it or in the Proof of it And if in the Matter of it it must be either that it does not give sufficient Directions what to do Or that it does not propose sufficient Motives to persuade Men to do what it requires And therefore in speaking to this Head I propounded to shew 1. That the Holy Scripture gives us sufficient Directions what to do 2. That the Motives which it proposes are sufficient to persuade us to do what it requires And 3. That we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines that are taught by it And the Two first of these I have already done I proceed now to the Third viz. 3. To shew that we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the Holy Scripture and consequently of all the Doctrines that are taught by it And that I shall presume to be sufficient Reason in this Case which we readily accept and allow of as sufficient in all other Cases of the like Nature And I suppose it will be granted that we have sufficient Proof given us of the Truth of the Things contained in Holy Scripture and of the Authority of it if it can be shewn 1. That we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books
Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact related in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And I hope enough was said the last time to shew that we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof What I am next to do is 2. To shew that there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to these Authors in their Relations of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And I hope none of you that hear me whom I presume to be all Christians will take Offence at it if now while I am arguing this Point I sometimes speak of the Holy Evangelists with the same Freedom that might be used in speaking concerning any other Authors and if I sometimes Plead for no more Credit to be given to them in their Relations than is fit and reasonable to be given to any other Historian that was naturally as well furnished and qualified to write a true History as they were and whose Fidelity and Veracity is as well attested and confirmed other Ways as theirs was For you will consider I hope that my Business is now with Infidels with whom we can argue only upon the Principles of common Reason And tho' we who are Christians already do believe as one of the first Principles of our Religion that these Sacred Writers were divinely and supernaturally assisted in their Work and that upon that Account they deserve much greater Credit in what they have written than other Historians do yet this is what those who are yet Infidels will not allow And in Disputation nothing is to be presumed on one side but what will be readily allowed by the other Party So that the divine Inspiration of the Evangelical Writers and the supernatural Assistance which we believe they had in their Writing cannot as yet be regularly insisted upon as an Argument to gain them Credit But it is what will easily be granted afterwards when the Truth of their History shall be well established upon other Grounds as I hope it will be in the following Discourse and 't is what may then serve to procure a religious Respect and Reverence to these Sacred Writings 1 Thess 2.13 and to ingage us to receive them not as the Word of Men but as they are in Truth as the Word of God But this one thing nevertheless I suppose I may presume viz. that if the Books of the New Testament the Historical Parts of it in particular were written by those Authors to whom they are ascribed which has been already proved the Matters of Fact recorded by the Evangelists in Writing are the same which they and the other Apostles testified by Word of Mouth in their Preaching For it cannot I think with any Reason be suspected that their Preaching and Writings were disagreeable to each other because such Disagreement would most certainly have utterly destroyed the Credit of them both And this being supposed I hope it will clearly appear that there is abundantly sufficient Reason to give full Credit to these Writings if these following things be considered 1. If we consider the Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters that are recorded in the Historical Books of the New Testament and of the History its self 2. If we consider the good Capacity that the Authors thereof were in to know the Truth of the things they have related 3. If we consider the strong Obligations they were under to write nothing but the Truth according to the best of their Knowledge or Information 4. If we consider the good Evidences that we have of their Honesty and Faithfulness And 5. Lastly If we consider the Confirmation that was given to the Truth of their History by God himself 1. I say the Evangelical History will appear to be highly credible if without any Regard as yet had to the Ability and Integrity of its Authors we only consider the Nature Conditions and Circumstances of the Matters therein recorded and of the History its self Concerning which there are two things especially that may be observed 1. That the Matters recorded by the Evangelical Writers are such as might be certainly known And 2. That they are such and in such manner related by the Evangelists that if their History of them had been false it could never have gained Credit in the World 1. First I say the Matters recorded by the Evangelical Writers are such as might be certainly known I mean either by the Historians themselves or by those from whom they had their Information For 1. They are for the most part plain Matters of Sense which those who were present at them could have no doubt of without Distrusting their own Faculties of Hearing or Seeing and which those who testified them might be as certain of the Truth of as we can be of any thing that we hear with our own Ears or see with our own Eyes For thus whether our Saviour gave out himself to be the Messias foretold by the Prophets whether he said that he was the Son of God and whether he uttered those other Speeches which the Evangelists have recorded as spoken by him could not but be certainly known by the People who often heard him and especially by his Apostles who constantly attended him And so likewise whether he did those many wonderful Works which the Evangelists have recorded of him could not but be known by those that were present with him They might be certain either that he did them or that he did not do them Thus for instance it might be certainly known to those that first affirmed that he gave Sight to the Blind whether those Persons had been once blind and whether afterwards they â—aw and to those that witnessed that he gave Strength â—o the Cripples whether the Men whom they said he wrought this Cure upon had been Lame or disabled â—n their Feet Hands or Body before and whether â—fterwards they walked and had Strength like other Men and to those that testified that he raised the Dead whether the Persons said to have been raised by â—im had been truly dead and whether afterwards â—hey lived But above all his own Resurrection which the preâ—ent Season as well as the Wonderfulness and Imporâ—ance of the thing obliges us to have a special â—egard to was a thing that might be most certainly â—nown to those that pretended to be Witnesses of it This Sermon was Preached on the Monday in Easter Week â—hey might be certain whether he had been once dead â—nd whether he shewed himself alive after his Passion â—y many infallible Proofs and was seen of them forty Days Of this they might be rather more certain than â—f any other of his Miracles because it was a thing â—ot to be judged of by one sense only as some of the â—est were
Sermon III. Page 25. Line 1. for once read now for those read these ADVERTISEMENT THE Three remaining Lectures for this Year are to be at St. Paul's on the first Mondays in September October and November But the first Monday in September being the Fast-Day for the Fire of London when there will be in the Morning a Sermon suitable to that Occasion Preached before the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Companies of the City Mr. Boyle's Lecture on that Day is Order'd to be Preached in the Afternoon THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE Scripture-Revelation As to the Proof of it PART III. A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul September 2d 1700. BEING The Sixth for the Year 1700 of thâ— LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL D. D. Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead IN Order to shew that we have sufficient Reason given us to convince us of the Truth and Authority of the New-Testament and of all the Doctrines that are taught by it I have formerly propounded to shew 1. That we have sufficient Reason to believe that the Books of the New-Testament were written by those Persons who are said to be the Authors thereof 2. That there is sufficient Reason to give full Credit to them in their Relation of those Matters of Fact which they have recorded And 3. That if the Matters of Fact therein recorded are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And the two first of these Points I have I hope already made good I proceed now to the third viz. 3. To shew That the Doctrine of the Gospel is well grounded upon the History of it That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the New-Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and Divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught And Here by the Doctrines of the Gospel I understand both the Articles of Faith which it proposes to our Belief and the Rules which it prescribes to our Practice Many of the former of which are themselves Parts of the Gospel History as the Incarnation Life Sufferings Death Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour and the rest of both sorts are taught in the New Testament either by our Saviour himself or by his Apostles And I suppose it will be readily granted that all their Doctrines are true and also of divine Authority if it shall appear that they were commissioned and sent by God to instruct the World for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God Joh. iii. 34. The single Point therefore to be consider'd at this time is whether there be sufficient Evidence from the Matters of Fact recorded in the History of the New Testament that our Saviour and his Apostles were commissioned and sent by God to instruct the World And first Whether there be sufficient Evidence from thence that our Saviour himself was a Teacher sent from God Now that he said he was sent from God is a Matter of Fact and a part of the Gospel History Joh. xii 49. See Joh. 5.37 38.8.38.14.10 24. I have not spoken of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak And that he said that he was the Messiah which had been foretold by the Prophets is likewise Matter of Fact and a Part of the same History Joh. iv 25 26. The Woman of Samaria saith unto him I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ Mat. 16.16 17. Mar. 9.41 Luke 24.46 Joh. 9.47 when he is come he will tell us all things Jesus saith unto him I that speak unto thee am HE. The Question therefore is whether from the things which are recorded of him by the Evangelists there be sufficient Ground to believe the Truth of either or both these Pretences I say of either or both of them because either of them is a sufficient Reason to receive his Doctrine as True and Divine for which cause therefore I shall not in speaking to this Subject distinguish between the Evidences which the Gospel-History affords of his being a Prophet and those which it affords of his being the Messiah but shall propose them promiscuously as they come to mind And here I shall consider First The Credibility of our Saviour's own Testimony concerning himself and Secondly The Confirmation that was given to this Testimony by God grounding all that shall be said on both these Heads upon the Gospel-History the Truth of which I now take for granted as being I hope already sufficiently prov'd First then I shall consider the Credibility of our Saviour's own Testimony concerning himself when he said that he was sent by God and that he was the Christ the Son of God And I know 't is commonly said that a Man is not to be believed in his own Case And this very thing was objected to our Saviour by the Jews Joh. viii 13. Thou bearest Record of thy self thy Record is not true But this Saying is not without Exception When indeed what a Man witnesses is for his own Benefit his Testimony if it be single may reasonably be rejected especially if any Proof be made that at other times he hath told a Lye or done any other ill thing for his Advantage But otherwise a Man's Testimony concerning himself may be credible nay in some cases it may be more credible than another Man's because he may sometimes be surer of what he says concerning himself than another Man could be And therefore our Saviour who in Joh. v. 31. allows of the Reasonableness of that Saying If I bear witness of my self my Witness is not true yet when this very thing was afterwards objected to him by the Pharisees in the Place before-cited makes answer in the following words Tho' I bear Record of my self Joh. 8.14 yet my Record is true for I know whence I came c. And that the Testimony of our Lord concerning his own divine Mission was such as we might rationally give Credit to tho' we had no other Evidence of it will I suppose sufficiently appear if these following things be consider'd 1. That his whole Life according to the Account that is given of it by the Evangelists which we now build upon as true was in all Respects spotless and unblameable 1 Pet. 2.22 1 Pet. 1.19 He did no Sin neither was Guile found in his Mouth He was a Lamb without blemish and without spot
Tit. 2.12 who made Heaven and Earth and by teaching them to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Now the Devil is certainly as subtle as he is powerful and therefore if he has indeed any power to alter the course of Nature and to do a real Miracle he would not however we may be sure make use of this Power against himself he would not thereby assist another to destroy his own Kingdom And by this Argument our Saviour himself clearly confuted this Calumny in Mat. xii 25. When the Pharisees had said that he cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils he answer'd Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to Desolation and if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself how then shall his Kingdom stand And 3. Lastly As it is not credible that the Devil has such power or if he has and was let alone to himself that he would make use of this power to destroy his own Kingdom so neither is it credible that Almighty God who has all power in his Hands and can controul and limit the workings of the Devil and all created Beings as he pleases would ever permit the Devil to out-do himself in such wonderful Operations so that more and greater Miracles should be done by an Impostor than ever had been done before by any true Prophet which yet is manifestly the Case if indeed our Saviour was an Impostor 2 Tim. 3.8 He suffer'd indeed Jannes and Jambres to withstand his Servants Moses and Aaron for some time and to do or seem to do some wonderful Works like to theirs Ex. 7.10 12. for Aaron cast his Rod upon the Ground and it became a Serpent and so did they And Aaron stretched out his Hand over the Waters Ex. 8.6 7. and the Frogs came up and covered the Land and the Magicians did so with their Inchantments and brought up Frogs upon the Land of Egypt But tho' he suffer'd the Magicians thus to contend with his Prophets the Victory was clearly on his Prophet's side Ex. 7.12.8.18 for Aaron's Rod swallowed up their Rods and when the Magicians endeavour'd by their Inchantments to bring forth Lice as Aaron had done they could not but were forced to own before Pharaoh that it was the Finger of God and from that time forward strove no more for Victory And thus it may be consistent with the Wisdom and Goodness of God Deut 13.1 c. at any time in order prove his People and to know whether they love the Lord with all their Heart Mat. 24.24 to suffer the Sign or Wonder foretold by an Inticer to Idolatry to come to pass and to distinguish his Elect from Reprobates to permit false Christs and false Prophets 2 Thes 2.8 9 10. to shew great Signs and Wonders and in just Judgment upon such as will not receive the love of the Truth that they may be saved to let them alone to be deceived by that wicked one whose Coming is after the working of Satan with all Power and Signs and Lying Wonders and with all Deceiveableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish But it cannot I think be reconciled to these Attributes of God that he should permit greater Wonders and more clear and undoubted Miracles to be done by a false Prophet than ever were done by any true Prophet because this would be too great a Trial for Humane Nature such Signs and Wonders would be sufficient to deceive even those that enquire after Truth with the greatest sincerity of Heart And I cannot conceive it consistent with the Goodness of God to permit that such as are of honest Minds and sincere Lovers of Truth should after a fair Examination of the Proofs on both sides have greater reason to embrace Error than Truth which yet they plainly have in case the Miracles done by false Prophets be more and greater than have been done by any true Prophet unless the Falseness of the Doctrines which they would thereby establish be more evident than the Truth of their Miracles So that upon the whole I think we may well conclude this Head with those Words of Nicodemus to our Saviour Joh. iii. 2. We know we are assured of it we have no Reason to doubt of it that thou art a Teacher come from God for no Man can do these Miracles that thou doest except God be with him 6. Another way by which God himself bare Witness to the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony was by Raising him from the dead Joh. 2.19 Mat. 12.40.16 4. To this great Miracle he himself often referred those that had any doubt of the Truth of his other Miracles as what could not but be satisfactory to all that were capable of receiving Satisfaction And this was the chief Subject of the Apostle's Sermons Acts 2.24.32.3.15.4.10.10.40.13.30 the main Proof that they insisted upon to convince Men that Jesus was the Christ And they seem to have no doubt upon them that if they could but persuade Men of the Truth of his Resurrection they would readily own that he was the Christ and without further scruple receive every thing that he had taught them in the name of God as a divine Truth Acts 17.30 By this say they God has given Assurance unto all Men that he has ordained him to be the Judge of the World By this say they he was declared to be the Son of God with Power because it was a thing evident to all Rom. 1.4 that no Power less than God's could raise the dead When therefore this was done and it was done if the Gospel-History be true this was a plain Seal set by God himself to our Saviour's Testimony a Seal not possible to be Counterfeited and wherein the Divine Power is so clearly and deeply engraven that whoever looks attently upon it must be satisfied whose Seal it is So that to grant the Resurrection of our Saviour and yet to doubt whether he was the Person he gave out himself to be is to doubt of the Truth of God himself for granting our Saviour's Resurrection it can't be suppos'd that he was an Impostor without supposing that God himself did consent to the Imposture and work the most evident Miracle that ever wâ—s done on purpose to perswade Men to believe a Lye I shall mention at present but one way more whereby God was pleas'd to confirm our Saviour's Testimony of himself And that was 7. By the Witness of the Holy-Ghost which witness was given to him at his Baptism Joh. 1.32 c. when the Holy-Ghost descended in a visible manner as a Dove and rested on him It was also given to him during the whole Course of his Ministry for the Holy-Ghost not only descended but abode upon him and therefore St. Peter speaking of him Act. 10.38 c. says that God anointed him with the Holy-Ghost and with Power But that
Witness of the Holy-Ghost which I now chiefly design was that which was given to him after his Ascension into Heaven and was an evident Token that all power in Heaven and Earth was then committed to him I mean those Gifts of the Holy-Ghost which he showred down on his Apostles on the Day of Pentecost when being met together Acts 2.1 c. there came suddenly a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty Wind which filled all the House where they were sitting and there appeared unto them Cloven Tongues like as of Fire which sat upon each of them whereupon they wre all filled with the Holy-Ghost and began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance And this Testimony of the Holy Ghost our Saviour promis'd before should be given to him Joh. xv 26. When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testifie of me And the Testimony indeed was very plain and full for by this it clearly appear'd that all his former Miracles had been true and had been wrought by a divine Power when even after he had left this World he was still able to make good this Promise to his Disciples and to empower them to do greater Works in his Name than he himself had done while he was living upon Earth This was a clear Demonstration that he was the beloved Son of the Father and was as St. Peter says Act. 2.33 exalted at God's right hand when he did shed forth that wonderful power upon his Apostles of which all that then dwelt in Jerusalem or had come thither from all parts of the World to Worship were Eye and Ear-Witnesses And this Testimony of the Holy-Ghost was given to our Saviour not at that time only not one Day and no more but was continu'd to be given to him all the time of the Apostle's Preaching who were also enabled to communicate to others by laying on of Hands Act. 2.38.8.17.10.44.19.6 the same Miraculous Gifts of the Holy-Ghost which they themselves had receiv'd until they had finish'd their Ministery and planted Christian Churches in all the Countries of the then known World Thus I have briefly mention'd the great Evidence that the Gospel History affords of the Truth of our Saviour's Testimony of himself the Matters of Fact I have taken for granted as being parts of the Gospel-History the Truth of which has been I hope already sufficiently prov'd and the Evidence it self is so clear and full that I thought it needless to open it in more Words than I have done for that the Testimony which God did by all these ways give to our Saviour is a rational Inducement to believe the Truth of what he said concerning himself is what I think can't be doubted by those that allow themselves any time to consider things This I 'm sure I may say that if this strong Evidence that the Gospel-History affords of our Saviour's divine Mission be not sufficient to prove it there never yet has been sufficient Evidence of the Truth of any divine Revelation I had almost said nor ever can be but that I know it is not for us to say what Infinite Power and Wisdom can do But as some Jews in our Saviour's time said Joh. 7.31 when Christ cometh will he do more Miracles than these which this Man hath done So I may ask and I believe it will be very difficult to make answer to it when Christ cometh if indeed he be not already come if indeed that Jesus on whom we believe be not he how shall we do to know him What greater Assurance can he give us that he is the Christ than Jesus hath given What better Reason can we ever have to believe any Messenger that shall be sent from God than we have to believe our Saviour For we have as much Reason supposing the Gospel-History to be true to believe him to be sent from God as we have to believe any thing we are as secure that we are not deceiv'd in him as we are that we are not deceiv'd in the plainest Matters of sense For the best the only security that we have that our senses do not deceive us and that every thing in the World is not quite otherwise than it appears to us to be is the Goodness of God and this same security we have that we are not deceiv'd in our Saviour's divine Mission Nay we are more secure of this than we are of that because it is more plainly inconsistent with the Goodness of God to deceive us in a Matter on which our everlasting Welfare depends than in Matters only of this Life which are the chief things for which our bodily Senses are of use to us And if indeed we are deceiv'd in our Saviour it must be said that God himself has deceiv'd us having given us all the Reason imaginable to believe him to be as he said he was the Son of God And now having been so large in shewing the Evidence that there is from the Matters of Fact recorded in the History of the New Testament that our Saviour himself was a Teacher sent from God I shall not need to spend much time in shewing that his Apostles were likewise Commission'd by God to instruct the World and consequently that we ought also to receive all the Doctrines taught by them whether in their Epistles or in their Discourses interwoven by St. Luke with his History of their Acts as true and divine for 1. There is plainly no Reason why we should not receive them as such because they are the very same that our Saviour taught and no other Some Points of Christian Doctrine are indeed more largely explain'd and handled by the Apostles in their Epistles than they are in those Discourses of our Saviour that are recorded by the Evangelists but between the Doctrines taught by our Lord himself and those taught by the Apostles there is such a perfect Harmony and Agreement that if we had only their own Word for it that they spake and wrote by the Inspiration of the Spirit we might securely believe them for tho' one Man may without Inspiration say the same thing which another before him has spoken by Inspiration yet if the second says that he also is inspir'd there can be no Hurt tho' there may be a Mistake in believing him seeing whether the Man was Inspir'd or no 't is certain that the Doctrine was But 2. If there be any Doctrines taught by the Apostles which we do not see were taught before by our Saviour I say there is however from the History of the Gospel Evidence enough of their divine Mission also so that we may very securely take upon their Credit as true and divine any Doctrine which they have instructed us in For 1. That they were sent by our Saviour is past all Dispute if the Gospel-History be true Joh. xx 21. As
my Father hath sent me so send I you and again Mat. xxviii 19 20. Go ye and disciple all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And that he had Authority to grant them such a Commission he shews in the words before All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations c. And 2. That they were taught by God and enlightned by his Holy Spirit is what can't be doubted if we believe the power of our Saviour and the Truth of the Gospel for before our Lord went from them Joh 20.22 he breathed on them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost And to what Purposes the Holy-Ghost was to be given them he had told them before Joh. 14.26 The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your Remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you And when he the Spirit of Truth is come Joh. 16.13 he will guide you into all Truth being thus therefore taught by the Spirit of Truth our Saviour might well say as he does Luke x. 16. He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me And 3. Lastly We have all the reason in the World to receive them as Messengers from God and to believe that all that they have taught is the Will of God because they had the same Attestation of God to the truth of their Doctrine that our Saviour himself had to his I do not mean that God did bear them Witness all those ways by which he bare witness to our Saviour for that could not be but he bare witness to them all those ways by which it was proper for him to do it and by which he had born witness to any former Prophets For he bare witness to them that they were sent by him Joh. 13.22.20 21. by the Testimony of our Saviour as he had done to our Saviour by the Testimony of John And if the Testimony of a Prophet was credible concerning our Saviour much more is the Testimony of the Son of God highly credible concerning a Messenger sent by him He bare witness to them also by enduing them with the Gift of Prophecy Joh. 16.13 for when the Spirit of Truth is come says our Saviour he will shew you things to come And lastly he bare witness to them by that which is the most plain and sensible proof of a divine Mission Mar. 16.20 viz. By the Power of Miracles and manifold Gifts of the Holy-Ghost The Lord worked with them and confirmed their word with Signs following says St. Mark And with great Power says St. Luke gave Acts 4.33 the Apostles witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus And the greater part of the History of the Acts of the Apostles is spent in relating the wonderful Works that they did by the Name of Jesus and the Power of the Holy-Ghost in confirmation of the Truth of their Doctrine But St. Paul perhaps it will be said of whose Writing are most of the Epistles was not one of them not called by our Saviour to be an Apostle as they were nor so much as an Eye and Ear-witness of our Lord's Miracles and Doctrine what Reason then have we to receive his Writings as Portions of Holy Scripture I answer as good tho' not in every particular just the same that we have to receive the Writings of the other Apostles as such For he was Converted and Ordain'd to be an Apostle in a more wonderful manner than they were as you may see in Acts 9. And as our Lord himself gave witness to their Divine Mission so he did also to his Acts ix 15. He is says our Lord a chosen Vessel unto me to bear my Name before the Gentiles and Kings and the Children of Israel To him also as well as to them Act. 20.22 25.27.10 22. 2 Th. 2.3 c. 1 Tim. 4.1 c. 2 Tim. 3.1 c. the Spirit foreshew'd things to come several Proofs of which we may observe in the History of the Acts and in his Epistles And Lastly His Speech and his Preaching was 1 Cor. 2.4 2 Cor. 12.12 as theirs in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power In him all the Signs of an Apostle were seen no less than in them viz. Signs and Wonders and mighty Deeds And of him with Barnabas in Company Acts 14.3 it is that St. Luke speaks when he says that the Lord gave Testimony to the word of his Grace and granted Signs and Wonders to be done by their Hands And the latter part of the History of the Acts from the 10th Chapter to the End contains little else but an account of St. Paul's Preaching and of the Miracles that were done by the Power of God to confirm the Truth of his Doctrine So that if we believe the Gospel-History we can no more doubt of his divine Mission and Inspiration than we can of theirs we must conclude that if they were Apostles so was he that if they were Ministers of Christ 2 Cor. 11.23 2 Cor. 11.5 2 Cor. 12.11 so was he too forasmuch as in nothing he was behind the very chiefest Apostles so that consequently we have as much Reason to believe his Writings to be Inspired as we have theirs And now by all that hath been said I hope I have fully made good the Point I was to prove viz. That if the Matters of Fact recorded in the New Testament are true they are sufficient Proofs of the Truth and divine Authority of all the Doctrines that are therein taught whether by Christ himself or by his Apostles For if it be true that they were sent by God to instruct the World and to declare the Will of God to Mankind and that they were is sufficiently prov'd by their Credential Letters which we have now perused and examin'd we can no more doubt the truth of those things which they as the Messengers and Ambassadors of God have deliver'd to us in his Name than if we had heard God himself uttering the same by a Voice from Heaven So that I cannot but perswade my self that the Proofs which have been offer'd in the foregoing Discourse of the Truth of all the Doctrines that are taught in the New Testament are sufficient to convince any Rational and Considering Man of the Truth of any Doctrine the Falsity whereof is not Notorious and Self-evident And therefore this I think is the only thing that can with any shew of Reason be pretended by any Person to justifie his not receiving the Gospel as a divine Revelation viz. That the Matter of it in some Particulars is such as will not admit of any Proof at all because no Arguments can make a
thing credible which in it self is incredible And such it may be pretended some of the Christian Doctrines are which are taught in the New Testament and especially the Doctrine of the Trinity And that this Doctrine is clearly taught in the New Testament we freely grant But why should it be deem'd incredible Does it imply a Contradiction Can they that except against it or against the Gospel-Revelation upon the Account of it shew that it is impossible it should be true Can they demonstrate that 't is impossible for an Infinite and Eternal Being to beget a Son in his own Likeness Heb. 1.3 the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Or can they shew it to be impossible that there should be a third Person proceeding from both these No perhaps they 'll say But that these three should be one as the Scripture teaches that they think exceeds all the Measures of Belief that they can't but think a manifest Contradiction But why so Do the Christians hold or does the Scripture say that they are three and one in the same respect does it say that the one God is three Gods or that those three whom it speaks of as three distinct Persons ascribing personal Acts to each of them are nevertheless but one single Person No it only tells us in general that these three are One But how they are Three or how they are One wherein consists their Distinction and wherein their Unity it says not at least not very plainly And I think it the safest Course in such high Matters Psal 131.1 in Matters so much too high for us not to exercise our selves nor to pretend to be Wise above what is written If therefore there be no Contradiction in the Doctrine of a Trinity in Unity as there is not unless we say that God is One and Three in the same Respect that 's enough that 's all that needs to be said upon this Occasion For tho' we may as indeed we must allow it to be an incomprehensible Mystery there is no Reason to Cavil at the Gospel-Revelation or to deny it to be a true divine Revelation upon this Account For we live in a World of Mysteries we must believe Mysteries in abundance whether we will or no I mean there are some Truths so very plain even to our Reason that we can't doubt of them and yet so very high and Mysterious that we can no more fathom them than we can the Doctrine of the Trinity For thus that Matter is not Eternal we are as sure almost as we are of any thing for Matter could not exist of it self and yet how Matter should be made out of nothing is as incomprehensible by us as 't is how the One undivided Godhead does personally subsist in the Father Son and Holy-Ghost And thus again that God is Eternal we are certain by Reason for by God we mean the first Cause of all and he who was first could have none before him and yet that any thing should exist without a Cause of its Existence is unaccountable and if we were not sure that it must be so we should be ready to say that it was impossible and a manifest Contradiction that it should be so Thus I say we are led by the Light of Reason only to a firm belief of some Truths which yet we can give no Account of by our Reason and I think 't is very hard that we will not receive an incomprehensible Doctrine upon the Credit of a very plain and well attested Divine Revelation as well as we do and must do the same upon the Evidence of Natural Reason Especially considering the Subject of this incomprehensible Doctrine which is the Essence or Substance of God who is an Infinite Being and so must needs be incomprehensible by our finite Understandings by our Understandings I say which are so very shallow that I believe I may truly say we understand not the Essence or Substance of any thing For we understand not what is the Essence or Substance of Matter or Body tho' it be a thing that all our Senses are continually exercised about all that we know of it is some Properties or Accidents thereof that it is something but what we know not that has Figure and Dimensions that is hard soft fix'd fluid or the like And we understand no more but rather less what the Essence or Substance of our Soul is all that we know of it is that 't is something that thinks and because it thinks we know it must be something and because none of those Properties which we observe in Matter have any Relation at all to Thought we conclude that the thinking Soul is an immaterial Something tho' what is immaterial cannot be explain'd by us unless we could say what is material Seeing therefore as the Wise Hebrew speaks we do hardly guess aright at things that are upon Earth Wisd 9.16 and with Labour do find out the things that are before us is it any wonder that we cannot search out and fully know and comprehend the things that are in Heaven If we are not able to understand even our own Essence and how by an ineffable Union of Spirit with Matter the whole together becomes one Man is it any Wonder Job 11.7 that by all our Searching we cannot find out God that we cannot find out the Almighty unto Perfection And what hath been thus briefly said is I hope sufficient to shew that a Divine Revelation cannot reasonably be excepted against or refused only upon the Account of some Mysterious and Incomprehensible Doctrines that are therein contain'd And if not then I hope what was said before is enough to satisfie any considering Man that the Gospel is a true Divine Revelation To Conclude all therefore having Christ and his Apostles continually Preaching to us in the Books of the New Testament Jam. 1.21 22. Let us as the Text says hear them Let us Reverence these Sacred Writings as the Oracles of God and receive with Meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our Souls But let us be Doers of the Word and not Hearers only deceiving our own selves For as the Apostle argues Heb. 11.3 c. If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every Transgression and Disobedience receiv'd a just Recompence of Reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy-Ghost according to his own Will FINIS ERRATA IN Sermon IV. and V. page 14. line 23. for more read most p. 47. l. 12. for they r. be l. 27. for there r. them In Sermon VI. p. 5. l. 3. for him r. ber No Reason to desire NEW REVELATIONS A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul October 7th
1700. BEING The Seventh for the Year 1700 of the LECTURE Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By OFSPRING BLACKALL D. D. Rector of St. Mary Aldermary and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. St. LUKE XVI 29 30 31. Abraham saith unto him They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead VVHEN I first began to Discourse on these Words I proposed to speak to these three Points I. To shew that the present Standing Revelation of God's Will contain'd in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to persuade Men to Repentance if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate They have Moses and the Prophets I add they have also Christ and his Apostles let them hear them II. To shew that having already such good Grounds of Faith such full Directions for Practice and such strong Motives to Repentance it is an unreasonable Request to desire more Nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And III. Lastly To shew that in case God should condescend to gratifie Men in this unreasonable Desire working every Day new Miracles before their Eyes or sending their deceased Friends to them from the dead to assure them of a future State and to warn them to prepare for it 't is highly probable that very few or none of those who do not believe and are not brought to Repentance by the Preaching and Standing Revelation of the Gospel would be persuaded by this means If they hear not Moses and the Prophets nor Christ and his Apostles neither will they be persuaded tho' one rose from the dead The first of these has been the subject of several former Discourses the second I design to speak to at this time viz. II. To shew that having already such good Grounds of Faith such full Directions for Practice and such strong Motives to Repentance as I have shewn we have in that Standing Revelation of God's Will which is contained in the Holy Scripture it is an unreasonable Request to desire more Nay Father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And the Unreasonableness of the Request which the Rich Man here makes in the behalf of his Brethren viz. That God would be pleased to send one from the dead to preach to them or in general how unreasonable it is for men now a-days to desire or look for more means of Conversion or Motives to Repentance than God has been pleased to afford us in the Standing Revelation of the Gospel will appear if we consider these following things 1. That the Principles of Faith and the Motives to Repentance which we have already being well grounded upon Matters of Fact which have been once already sufficiently prov'd and attested 't is altogether needless that any fresh or further Proof should be given of them and 't is what we never think reasonable to desire in other the like Cases That when God requires us to believe or do any thing and sends a special Messenger to acquaint us with his Will he should grant to this Messenger such Testimonials as are sufficient to satisfie reasonable Men that he is no Impostor but a Teacher sent from God is indeed a thing that may fairly be expected And if God should not do thus we should be excusable in not hearkning to such a Messenger because we could not know whether he was a true or a false Prophet and God does not require neither indeed is it reasonable that we should believe every Pretender to Revelation And the clearest Proof of any Man 's being sent from God to teach us any thing being a Power of doing such Miracles and Mighty Works as are manifestly above the skill and strength of a Man to do it was therefore highly requisite and what might reasonably be look'd for that God should grant such a Power as this to all those whom he has ever inspired with new Light and Commission'd to make any new Revelation of his Will to Mankind And this he has always done He gave this Power to Moses in a large measure because the Matters that Men were to trust him for were many and very considerable He gave it also to some of the succeeding Prophets but in a less measure because their Business for the most part was only to Interpret or to press the Observation of the Law of Moses which had been sufficiently prov'd before And he gave it in the largest measure of all to our Saviour and his Apostles because the Revelation made by them was of Truths very mysterious some of them above the Reach and Comprehension of Humane Reason It was also a Revelation in a manner wholly new even to the Jews themselves and much more to the Gentiles And besides it was a Revelation in many Points to appearance contrary to a former Divine Revelation inasmuch as it ordered the Abolition of many things which had been before enjoyned by divine Authority viz. all the Ritual and Ceremonial Law of Moses And therefore to gain Credit to their Testimony that they were inspired and sent by God to teach such things it was very requisite that they should produce more and more plain and undeniable Testimonials of their divine Mission than Moses himself had done And such Testimonials they had such they did produce working more Miracles and those as I may say more wonderful and Miraculous than Moses and all the Prophets together had wrought before But when these Testimonials had been once fairly produced and examined and by all reasonable Men allowed to be true and sufficient and when Christ and his Apostles had made and published all that Revelation which they were Commissioned to make And when to prevent all misunderstandings of it or mistakes concerning it they had committed it all to Writing and the Men that lived in those times and were capable of enquiring into the Truth of it were well assured that the Books said to be written by the Apostles and Evangelists were indeed theirs and contain'd in substance all the same things and no other which they had before declared by word of Mouth and confirmed by Miracles After this I say when the Divinity of the Revelation was thus once at the first Publishing of it so fully confirmed there was no need that it should be proved any more and all other Proof thereof would have been superfluous because the whole Matter both Doctrine and Proof being once faithfully recorded and those Records well attested there could afterwards be no reasonable Cause to call it again in Question So that the Reason of working Miracles being then ceased it was reasonable that the
Power of working Miracles should cease too at least till such time as God should think fit to make some Alteration in or Addition to his former Revelations which we have good Reason to think he will never do or 'till he should please to undertake the Conversion of those Nations to the Christian Faith to whom the Knowledge of the former Miracles that had been wrought for its Confirmation could not be so well communicated by credible History as it is to us For as was hinted before Credible History is all the Proof and Evidence that we ever think reasonable to require in other Cases of the like Nature As for instance When a new Law is made concerning any Matter it is requisite according to the Custom of our Country that it should pass both Houses of Parliament and that the King should ratifie and confirm it and that afterwards it should be some way so published and promulged that all the Subjects that are then alive should have sufficient Assurance given them that such a Law is made But after this Law has been once so passed and ratified and promulged it is passed and ratified and promulged for ever and no Man is so unreasonable as to expect that every Parliament that is called afterwards should read and pass over again all the Laws that have been made before their Time or that every King that succeeds to the Throne should afresh ratifie and publish all the Laws that were made by all his Predecessors But all the Proof that we ever require of the Authority of any ancient Law is a true Copy of it and a good History or Record of its being made at such a time by such a King confirmed by the Tradition of all the intermediate Ages to our Time which have allowed of its Authority by citing it as a Law of the Land by Pleading from it and by giving Judgment according to it And he who will not allow of the same Proof and Evidence of the Authority of the Christian Institution so many hundred years ago established but would needs have new Miracles and new Revelations to confirm the former is every whit as unreasonable as that Criminal would be who being Indicted upon some Ancient Statute should refuse to plead to his Indictment upon Pretence that he knew not whether there was any such Law or not it being made if ever it was made long before his Time and there being none now alive that were present at the making of it Shew him the Law in the Statute Book why how does he know he 'd say but that the Printers had a mind to put a Cheat upon the Nation by Printing a Law of their own making as a Law made by some of our ancient Kings nay shew him the Original Record still he 'd say There have been abundance of Forgeries in the World and how does he know but that this is one The Record he 'd own perhaps looks like an Ancient Deed and has all the Marks of such Antiquity as it pretends to but after all 't is possible it may be and therefore he cannot be sure it is not a Forgery and 'till he is assured of this he will not plead to an Indictment that is grounded upon it But if the King and Parliament that now are will be pleased to declare that this is a good Law and if he himself may be allowed to be by when they shall declare it or if at least two or three Witnesses that he can trust shall testifie upon Oath that they were present when it was passed into a Law then he will allow it to be a good Law and after that will be content to suffer the Punishment of it if he shall ever again be a Transgressor Now what Man is there that would think this a reasonable Demand Or what Judge or Court would ever allow of such a Plea And yet as unreasonable as it is it is just the same with theirs who pretending to be more wise and cautious than their Neighbours will not allow of the same sort of Proof tho' indeed much better in its kind of the Truth of the Christian Religion but tho' we have as Authentick Histories as any are in the World such Histories as the greatest Adversaries of Christianity have not been able to say any thing to invalidate the Truth of which declare that Christ and his Apostles taught such and such Doctrines and wrought such and such Miracles to confirm the Truth of their Doctrine yet will not believe that the Doctrine of Christianity is true and Divine unless they may have special Messengers sent to them to declare a-fresh all the same things which the Apostles once did and those endued with a Power of working in their sight and presence the same Miracles over again that are said to have been formerly done by Christ and his Apostles to confirm the Testimony that they gave 2. The Unreasonableness of that Request which the Rich Man here makes in the Behalf of his Brethren viz. That God would make a new Revelation for their particular Conversion or in general The Unreasonableness of our now desiring fresh Revelations new Miracles or Apparitions of Men from the dead to confirm the Truth of those things which are already sufficiently proved to us by the Standing Revelation of the Gospel will further appear if we consider That to us who live now in Christian Countries other Grounds of Faith or stronger Motives to Repentance than we have already in the standing Revelation of the Gospel might be inconsistent with the Excellency of Faith might destroy the Virtue of Believing and might be too great a Force and Constraint upon us such as would in a manner take away our Liberty of Choice For there is no Virtue at all in Believing what we see there is no Praise or Thanks at all due for doing what we are driven or forced to do and for us who have already abundantly sufficient Grounds to believe and embrace Christianity to have fresh Miracles wrought every day before our own eyes such Miracles as we could not possibly doubt the Truth of to confirm those Doctrines which are already sufficiently confirmed would not be to persuade us but to force us to be Chistians so that then the State we are now in would not be as God designed it should be a State of Trial for the Trial of Wisdom is when there are some Reasons on both sides and he is the Wise Man who in that Case gives Judgment on that side on which the Reasons are strongest But against what I have now said perhaps it may be objected That the Evidence which we desire of the Truth of Religion is no more than we are told has been already given to some Men particularly to those who lived in our Saviour's and his Apostle's times and we can't see why it would be more inconsistent with the Nature of Faith and Religion now than it was then or how it would more destroy our Freedom
be unreasonable for us to desire the same unless we were to be put to the same Trials of our Faith that they were which in a Christian Country can hardly be And indeed as desirous as we seem to be of having such Evidence of the Truth of our Religion as we are told the Apostles had I believe there are very few of us but had rather be contented with less Evidence than have so much as the Apostles had with its appendant Burden which was to travel all the World over even into the most rude and barbarous Countries to plant Christianity expecting wherever they came Bonds and Afflictions meeting every where with the most violent opposition and roughest Usage encountring every where the greatest Dangers and sure at last to be made a bloody Sacrifice to the Malice and Fury of their Persecutors How much St. Paul alone endured and 't is like the Sufferings of the other Apostles were not much less you may see in 2 Cor. xi 23 c. and yet he was not then come to the end of his Sufferings In Labours abundant in Stripes above measure in Prisons frequent in Deaths oft Of the Jews five times received I forty Stripes save one thrice was I beaten with Rods once was I Stoned thrice I suffered Shipwrack a Night and a Day I have been in the Deep in Journeyings often in Perils of Waters in Perils of Robbers in Perils by mine own Countrymen in Perils by the Heathen in Perils in the City in Perils in the Wilderness in Perils in the Sea in Perils among false Brethren In Weariness and Painfulness in Watchings often in Hunger and Thirst in Fastings often in Cold and Nakedness Besides those things that are without that which cometh upon me daily the Care of all the Churches And therefore he might well say as he does 1 Cor. iv 9 c. I think that God hath set forth us the Apostles last as it were appointed to Death for we are made a Spectacle to the World and to Angels and to Men we are Fools for Christ's sake we are weak we are despised even unto this very hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling Place and labour working with our Hands being reviled persecuted defamed we are made as the Filth of the World and are the Off-scowring of all things unto this Day It was therefore plainly necessary that a Faith which was to undergo these severe Trials should be built upon the surest Grounds but for us and to enable us to overcome the World a Faith that is founded upon less certain Evidence may be as sufficient 2. The Second Case before-mentioned was of those who heard with their own Ears the Testimony which the Apostles gave concerning our Lord and saw with their own Eyes the wonderful Works that they did in Confirmation of their Testimony We could wish at least that we had such strong Evidence of the Truth of the Christian Religion as they had and if we had we see not why there would not be as much Choice and consequently as much Virtue in our believing as there was in theirs But here it may be considered 1. That it was the Lot but of very few even of those that lived in the Apostles times except of the Jews that dwelt in Judea to hear the Apostles themselves or to see with their own Eyes the Miracles that they wrought and even of these there were but few that had the opportunity of seeing many of their mighty Works so that all things considered the Evidence that we have of the Truth of our Religion if it be not fully equal to is very little inferior to that which they had for it being as has been formerly shewn morally impossible that the Gospel History which is now in our Hands should be forged or spurious or corrupted and altered what can be thought to be wanting in the Clearness of the Evidence that we have being given in Writing and not by word of Mouth is made up by the Fulness and Abundance of it we having in the Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists several Witnesses testifying the same Miracles and every one of them Witnessing more Miracles than any except those who were constant Attendants upon our Lord or Companions of the Apostles were in a Capacity to witness But 2. Granting it to be true that in the Apostle's times those to whom the Gospel was preached had generally clearer and stronger Evidence of the Truth of Christianity than we have now yet I say even that Evidence of Sense which they had was not more apt or like to convince and persuade them than the Proof which we now have tho' in it self it be less is to convince and persuade us For when Men have already taken up an Opinion no matter upon what Grounds or when by their Worldly Interest they are engaged to be of such an Opinion it can't be expected that the same Reasons I mean Reasons of the same strength in themselves should be sufficient to persuade them to alter their Opinion which would have sufficed to have fix'd and establish'd them in their former Notions And this is plainly the Difference between those Times and ours for when the Revelation of the Gospel was first made by Christ and his Apostles all both Jews and Gentiles were most strongly prejudiced against it each of them having been bred up in a Persuasion that their own way of Worship was right add the Jews in particular having had good Assurance that their Law given by Moses to which the Doctrine of Christianity seem'd very opposite had been of Divine Institution But however when a Man has been bred up in the Belief of any thing and has believ'd it a good while he takes it for granted that he had reason to believe it whether be had so or not so that the Prejudice against Christianity was as powerful tho' not altogether so just in the Gentiles whose Religion was meerly fabulous as in the Jews whose Law was indeed of Divine Institution And besides which was an Impediment alike common both to the Jews and Gentiles they could not either of them then embrace and profess the Christian Religion without apparently hazarding the Loss of all things that were dear to them in this World And how very apt a strong Worldly Interest is to blind Mens Eyes and to byass their Judgments is what we cannot but daily observe in all other Cases But our Case now is quite otherwise our Prejudices and our Interest are both for Christianity for we suck'd it in with our Mothers Milk and we found it the establish'd Religion of the Country where we were Born for which Reasons we believed it or at least were strongly inclined to believe it before we knew or had beard of any other Reasons so that to us who are already inclined on this side to us who to be sure are not prejudiced against it to us whose Interest
overbalance the other so that it may reasonably be hoped that some small Addition to the Proof of Religion no more than might be made to it without destroying either our Freedom of Choice or the Excellency of Faith and Virtue would prevail with these Half Christians And perhaps it might But God is wiser than we are and knows better than we what is fit for him to do towards the Conversion of Men. We ought therefore to conclude that he does all that is fit to be done tho' we do not see but that he might do more But this it may be will not be taken for an Answer but will rather be thought a way of avoiding a Difficulty too hard to be accounted for And therefore I say further and it was the third thing which I proposed to be considered 3. That if God should gratifie all Men in this Request working new Miracles every Day for the Conviction of particular Persons Sermon VII and as I have formerly noted there is no Reason in the World why any one Man should be gratified in this Request rather than others when they have all equal Reason and equal Right to desire it should God I say gratifie all Men in this Request the Abundance of the Miracles that must then be wrought woud be so far from adding to the Proof of Christianity that if would rather lessen or weaken that Proof of it which we have already because Miracles the properest Proof of a Publick Divine Revelation would not be then so convincing as they are now For that which most of all affects Men in a Miracle is the Unusualness of it because it is such a thing as was never or but rarely before ever seen or heard of As the Blind Man that had been Cured by our Saviour well observes Joh. ix 32. Since the Beginâ—ing of the World hath it not been heard that any Man hath opened the Eyes of one that was born Blind Had â—t been a common thing it would have been no Miracle I mean it would not have appeared so it would â—ot have been thought so by Men. For that which makes Men wonder even at a true Miracle is not so much because it is such an Operation as they cannot â—ive a fair account of by Natural Causes for this â—hey can't do I 'm confident I may say they have not â—et done it of many of the Works and Productions â—f Nature But they therefore conclude such a thing not to be a Natural Operation because it is not usual because it is such a thing as was never before known to be done And if the same thing which now for this Reason we should account a Miracle was done every Day the Virtuosi would presently set themselves to invent and would quickly fancy they had found out some Natural Solution of it And I believe there are not many Miracles that have been done which they might not after long Study be able to give as clear and probable an Account of by Natural Causes as they have done of Gravity of Fire of the Loadstone of Vision of the Production of Vegetables of the Generation of Animals and of many other things which yet are doubtless the Works and Effects of Natural Causes So that I say the most probable Consequence of having Miracles so very common as they must be if they were wrought for the Conviction of particular Men would be this that they wou'd cease to serve for that Purpose for which Miracles were designed because being common they would be disregarded or would quickly be looked upon to be the Effect of Natural Causes only There would not be wanting those that would offer to give an Account how they were done and all those would be despised by the Scorners of Religion as too much addicted to Superstition who rather than attribute the greatest Miracle to a Supernatural Power would not acquiesce in that Solution how silly soever that was given of it by meer Matter and Motion And in particular I question not but that if it was a common thing for dead Men after they had lain in their Graves for some time to come forth again and shew themselves alive to their Friends this wonderful Effect would be attributed by a great many to some Vital Principle in the Body which only Slept for a while as it does in Corn or other Seeds while they are kept dry and above Ground but afterwards when the Body was buried a while was excited by some Natural Virtue that was in the Earth to exert it self and so by its Plastick Power formed the Body into the same shape it was in before This I say would in all probability be the Effect that the greatest Miracles would have in the World if they were very common They'd only serve to set the Philosophers Wits to work to invent new Forms of Matter and new Laws of Motion by which to solve them and any Solution of them tho' never so improbable tho' only by Occult Qualities would serve turn and be thought better than to recur to an Almighty Power The Consequence of which would be that this which we desire as an additional Proof of Christianity would in effect destroy one of the best Proofs of it that we have already But 4. Lastly If it be supposed that Miracles would still be thought Miracles notwithstanding their Commonness yet Abraham might well deliver it as a General Truth to which there are none or very few Exceptions that he who is not wrought upon by a Standing Revelation of God's Will would not be persuaded by an extraordinary Message or a new Miracle because it is Matter of Fact and Experience that this last Method has been generally unsuccessful upon those who have not hearkned to nor been convinced by a Standing Revelation For this was the very Case of the Jews in our Saviour's time the Parable was literally fulfilled in them For as they would not believe Moses and the Prophets testifying of our Saviour so neither did they any more believe our Saviour himself when he came down to them from Heaven in the Power of God And as they did not believe him while he lived amongst them and went about Preaching and doing Miracles so neither did they believe him a jot more after he came again to them from the dead Never were there such Signs and Miracles wrought for Mens Conviction and yet never was there such a number of obstinate Infidels as then Very few even of those who were Eye-witnesses of our Saviour's Miracles were the better for them but many were a great deal worse wilfully blaspheming that Spirit by which he wrought them and attributing those Operations to the Help of the Devil which they were convinced in their own Judgments were done by the Power of God The opening the Eyes of the Blind Joh. 9.39.11.47.12.10 did but make those that saw the Miracle more blind than they were before And when once a dead Lazarus did come forth out of